Briefs

January 11, 2008

COLLEGE ATHLETICSIrish 21st in Directors' Cup Notre Dame is 21st in the final set of fall sports standings released in the 2007-08 United States Sports Academy Division I Directors' Cup all-sports competition. Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 188 points -- 32 based on their 21st-place finish in men's cross country, 83 for Notre Dame's national semifinal appearance in women's soccer, and 73 for its national quarterfinal appearance in men's soccer. California (370 points) currently leads the competition, after winning the NCAA water polo title. Second is USC (343), followed by Stanford (315), Oregon (304) and Penn State (303). Current standings: 1.California 370, 2.USC 343, 3.Stanford 315, 4.Oregon 304, 5.Penn State 303, 6..Wake Forest 278, 7.West Virginia 273.5, 8.Connecticut 254, 9.Texas 244.5, 10.Florida 243.5, 11.Michigan 237, 12.Florida State 234, 13.UCLA 231, 14.Virginia 218, 15.Michigan State 214, 16.BYU 212.75, 17.Wisconsin 212, 18.Ohio State 208, 19.LSU 200, 20.Duke 199, 21.Notre Dame 188, 22.North Carolina 184, 23.Oklahoma State 180, 24.Illinois 178, 25.Colorado 172. COLLEGE HOCKEYCorrection Because of a copy editing error, goaltender statistics in a story on Page C1 of Thursday's Tribune were attributed to the wrong player. Notre Dame's Jordan Pearce has statistics of 2.06 GAA and .909 save percentage. The Tribune regrets the error. COLLEGE BASKETBALLGrace rejoins rankings The Grace College (14-4, 3-1) men's basketball team is back in the national rankings for the first time since their preseason No. 13 ranking. The Lancers are slotted 19th overall, receiving 196 votes due to victories over No. 17 Valley City State (N.D.) and No. 22 Taylor University. The Lancers are back in action Saturday against Goshen College at the OCC and then host No. 11 Bethel College on Jan. 19. HS CROSS COUNTRYGatorade honors Banfich Culver Academies' Alex Banfich was named the Gatorade Indiana Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Banfich is now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in mid-January. The senior distance runner captured her third Indiana State Meet individual championship with a time of 18:21, outracing her next fastest competitor by 18 seconds. Banfich finished sixth at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional in 17:53. She placed 21st (18:07) at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in addition to recording an unbeaten season against state competition. HS WRESTLINGBattle for NIC No. 14-ranked Riley will face No. 3 Mishawaka to determine this year's Northern Indiana Conference wrestling champion at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Elkhart Central, also battling for this year's league title, will meet the Cavemen at 2 p.m. The matchups will occur during the second and fourth rounds of the annual NIC super dual wrestling tournaments at Marian High School. Twelve teams, including every NIC school, will compete on six mats during the day-long event starting at 9 a.m. Matchups were drawn by conference athletic directors on Wednesday. POOL A 9 a.m.: Elkhart Central vs. Washington, LaVille vs. Mishawaka, Riley vs. Marian 10:30 a.m.: Riley vs. Mishawaka; Washington vs. LaVille, Elkhart Central vs. Marian 12 noon: LaVille vs. Marian; Mishawaka vs. Washington; Riley vs. Elkhart Central 2 p.m.: Marian vs. Washington; Riley vs. LaVille; Mishawaka vs. Elkhart Central 3:30 p.m.: Riley vs. Washington; LaVille vs. Elkhart Central; Mishawaka vs. Marian POOL B 9 a.m.: Clay vs. Penn; Adams vs. St. Joseph's; John Glenn vs. Plymouth 10:30 a.m.: Penn vs. Adams; St. Joseph's vs. John Glenn; Plymouth vs. Clay 12 noon: Adams vs. Plymouth; St. Joseph's vs. Penn; Clay vs. John Glenn 2 p.m.: Pymouth vs. Penn; John Glenn vs. Adams; St. Joseph's vs. Clay 3:30 p.m.: John Glenn vs. Penn; Adams vs. Clay; St. Joseph's vs. Plymouth GOLFChoi takes early lead K.J. Choi is accustomed to starting strong at the Sony Open, closing with a birdie for a 6-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead Thursday and his sixth consecutive opening round in the 60s at Waialae Country Club. Jimmy Walker usually expects the worst when he comes to these shores. The former Nationwide Tour player of the year suffered a serious neck injury at the Sony Open in his rookie debut three years ago. Walker returned the next year and shot 80. A reluctant return to the tour helped erase some bad vibes, as Walker was among three players at 65 on a day of low scoring and no wind. Heath Slocum, who teamed with Boo Weekley for a runner-up finish at the World Cup in China over Thanksgiving, and Stephen Marino joined Walker at 65. The group at 66 included Mercedes winner Daniel Chopra, Chad Campbell and Rory Sabbatini.